Help your students take the first step toward a successful career in medical coding with guidance from the most trusted name in coding education! The bestselling Buck’s Step-by-Step Medical Coding is a practical, easy-to-use resource that shows you exactly how to code using all current coding sets. To reinforce your understanding, practice exercises follow the explanations of each coding concept. In addition to coverage of reimbursement, ICD-10-CM, CPT, HCPCS, and inpatient coding, an Evolve website includes 30-day access to TruCode® Encoder Essentials. No other text so thoroughly covers all coding sets!
NEW! Coding updates include the latest information available, promoting accurate coding and success on the job.
Theory and practical review questions (located at the end of each chapter) focus on recalling important chapter information and application of codes.
A step-by-step approach makes it easier for students to build coding skills and remember the material.
Learning objective and glossary review questions reinforce student understanding of key chapter concepts and terms.
Coverage reflects the latest changes to the CPT E/M guidelines for office and other outpatient codes.
30-day trial to TruCode® Encoder Essentials gives students experience with using an encoder (plus access to additional encoder practice exercises on the Evolve website).
UNIQUE! "Real-life" coding reports (cleared of any confidential information) simulate the reports students will encounter as coders to help them apply coding principles to actual cases.
Online activitieson Evolve provide extra practice with assignments, including coding reports.
More than 450 illustrations help in understanding the types of medical conditions and procedures being coded, and include examples taken directly from Elsevier's professional ICD-10 and HCPCS manuals.
UNIQUE!Four coding-question variations — covering both single-code questions and multiple-code questions and scenarios — develop students’ coding ability and critical thinking skills.
UNIQUE!Coders’ Index in the back of the book makes it easy to quickly locate specific codes.
Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting boxes show the official guidelines wording for inpatient and outpatient coding alongside in-text explanations.
Exercises, Quick Checks, and Toolbox features reinforce coding rules and concepts, and emphasize key information.
Valuable tips and advice are offered in features such as From the Trenches,Coding Shots,Stop!,Caution!, Check This Out, and CMS Rules.
Sample EHR screenshots (in Appendix D) show examples similar to the electronic health records students will encounter in the workplace.
UNIT 1 Reimbursement 1. Reimbursement, HIPAA, and Compliance
UNIT 2 ICD-10-CM 2. An Overview of ICD-10-CM 3. ICD-10-CM Outpatient Coding and Reporting Guidelines 4. Using ICD-10-CM 5. Chapter-Specific Guidelines (ICD-10-CM Chapters 1-10) 6. Chapter-Specific Guidelines (ICD-10-CM Chapters 11-14) 7. Chapter-Specific Guidelines (ICD-10-CM Chapters 15-22)
UNIT 3 CPT and HCPCS 8. Introduction to CPT 9. Introduction to the Level II National Codes (HCPCS) 10. Modifiers 11. Evaluation and Management (E/M) Services 12. Anesthesia 13. Surgery Guidelines and General Surgery 14. Integumentary System 15. Musculoskeletal System 16. Respiratory System 17. Cardiovascular System 18. Hemic, Lymphatic, Mediastinum, and Diaphragm 19. Digestive System 20. Urinary and Male Genital Systems 21. Reproductive, Intersex Surgery, Female Genital System, and Maternity Care and Delivery 22. Endocrine and Nervous Systems 23. Eye, Ocular Adnexa, Auditory, and Operating Microscope 24. Radiology 25. Pathology/Laboratory 26. Medicine
The appearance of the text and page layout can be modified according to the capabilities of the reading system (font family and font size, spaces between paragraphs, sentences, words, and letters, as well as color of background and text)
This e-publication is accessible to the full extent that the file format and types of content allow, on a specific reading device, by default, without necessarily including any additions such as textual descriptions of images or enhanced navigation
All content can be read as read aloud speech or dynamic braille
Has alternative text descriptions for images
Conformance
The publication contains a conformance statement that it meets the EPUB Accessibility 1.1, WCAG 2.1, Level AA standard. Please see https://bornaccessible.benetech.org/certified-publishers/ for further details of our compatibility testing.
The certifier's credential is https://bornaccessible.benetech.org/certified-publishers/
For queries regarding accessibility information, contact [email protected]
The publication was certified on 07-02-2026
Navigation
Table of contents to all chapters of the text via links
Elements such as headings, tables, etc. for structured navigation
Page list to go to pages from the print source version
Rich Content
Information-rich images are described by extended descriptions
Hazards
The publication contains no hazards
Product Content
Content includes any type of illustrations.
The primary content is text.
Content includes maps and/or other cartographic content.
Content includes a significant number of actionable (clickable) web links to external content, downloadable resources, supplementary material, etc.
Content includes a significant number of actionable (clickable) cross-references, hyperlinked notes and annotations, or with other actionable links between largely textual elements (e.g., quiz/test questions, 'choose your own ending', etc.).
Content includes additional textual content such as an interview, feature article, essay, bibliography, quiz/test, other background material, or text that is not included in a primary or 'unenhanced' version.
Content includes supplementary text as promotional content such as, for example, a teaser chapter.
Content includes photographs, whether in a plate section / insert or not.
Content includes figures, diagrams, charts and/or graphs, including other 'mechanical' (i.e. non-photographic) illustrations.
Content includes images displayed in a specific order for the purpose of graphic storytelling or giving information (e.g. graphic novels, comics and manga). May include text integrated into the image (as speech and thought bubbles, textual 'sound' effects, captions etc.).
Content includes text within images, including text-as-text embedded in diagrams, charts, or within images containing speech balloons, thought bubbles, captions, etc.
Content includes visual content that is purely decorative and is not necessary to understanding of the content.
Content includes chemical notations, formulae.
Content includes mathematical notations, formulae.
At least some text - including text within other images - is 'text as an image' (i.e., a picture of text).
Legal Considerations
No information is available
Additional Accessibility Information
Content is enhanced with ARIA roles to optimize organization and facilitate navigation
Page breaks included from the original print source
For readers with color vision deficiency, use of color (e.g., in diagrams, graphics and charts, in prompts, or on buttons inviting a response) is not the sole means of graphical distinction or of conveying information
The body text is presented with a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 (or 3:1 for large/heading text)
Ultra-high contrast between text and background
E-publication includes basic navigation (usually less detailed than TOC-based navigation)
Where links, controls or buttons are included in the content, the purpose or functionality of each link, control or button is apparent from the associated text alone - or where it is unclear, separate link, control or button descriptions are provided
All (or substantially all) textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order (including text that is visually presented as separate from the main text flow, e.g., in boxouts, captions, tables, footnotes, endnotes, citations, etc.). Non-textual content is also linked from within this logical reading order. (Purely decorative non-text content can be ignored).
Content provides explanations for unusual words, abbreviations, acronyms, idioms, jargon in an accessible form, such as glossaries, scripted pop-ups.
Where interactive content is included in the product, controls are provided (e.g., for speed, pause and resume, reset) and labelled to make their use clear.
The language of the text has been specified (e.g., via the HTML or XML lang attribute) to optimise text-to-speech (and other alternative renderings), both at the whole document level and, where appropriate, for individual words, phrases or passages in a different language.
We use cookies that are necessary to make our site work. We may also use additional cookies to analyze, improve, and personalize our content and your digital experience. You can manage your cookie preferences using the “Cookie settings” link. For more information, see ourCookie Policy
Opt-Out Request Honored
Cookie Preference Center
We use cookies which are necessary to make our site work. We may also use additional cookies to analyse, improve and personalise our content and your digital experience. For more information, see our Cookie Policy and the list of Google Ad-Tech Vendors.
You may choose not to allow some types of cookies. However, blocking some types may impact your experience of our site and the services we are able to offer. See the different category headings below to find out more or change your settings.
You may also be able to exercise your privacy choices as described in our Privacy Policy
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Always active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.